| February 14, 2024 | Medi-Products

Best Double-Door Laboratory Refrigerators To Buy in 2022

As a medical facility, health care center, or vaccine center, keeping your medicines and vaccines in the recommended temperature range is a big priority for you. Many factors contribute to your success in maintaining your samples’ cold chain, but one of the most important is your cold storage unit.

Investing in an efficient cold storage unit is one of the most important steps you can take, as it serves as a foundation for the other steps you will take in ensuring your samples' cold chain is maintained.

This article discusses the ranking cold storage units in 2022, particularly the double-door laboratory refrigerator. In addition, we discuss the differences between these units and how our battery backup systems can further your goal of keeping your samples' cold chain intact.

What is a laboratory-grade refrigerator?

A high performance, laboratory-grade refrigerator or freezer is purpose-built for storing non-volatile reagents, biological specimens, vaccines, and medicines in laboratory settings and other controlled environments. These laboratory settings include hospitals, clinics, university and government research laboratories, and pharmaceutical manufacturing plants.

They are better than general purpose household refrigerators because they have a microprocessor-based system that measures temperatures precisely. In addition, they use digital sensors to monitor the interior temperature and have fast temperature recovery apparatuses that respond to out-of-range temperature readings—helping to maintain temperature uniformity.

The U.S. Center for Disease Control recommends that medical facilities use refrigerators and freezers that comply with CDC guidelines. Facilities are expected to abstain from using older combination household units. Instead, they should use stand-alone refrigerators and freezers.

However, if a facility is pressed for space, they can use dual pharmacy-grade units with independent refrigerator and freezer compressors. These include under-the-counter, compact units or large ones with double doors.

What are the benefits of using a laboratory-grade refrigerator?

A laboratory-grade refrigerator has the following benefits over household refrigerators:

●      It has an additional heavy-duty fan that promotes better airflow within the unit.

●      Low noise

●      Both audible and visual alarms for when the unit’s door is left ajar

●      Top-notch temperature monitoring and alarm systems

  • Most units include a digital temperature display as part of their standard equipment

Top double-door lab refrigerators of 2022

Many refrigerators and freezers presently ranking in 2022 are either single-door or freezers. However, a wide variety of double-door refrigerators make the list. We'll discuss these below.

Am-1 AM-LAB-2D-RSE-48 MedLab Laboratory Refrigerator

This double-door laboratory is explicitly designed for medical and laboratory cold storage applications. It provides everything you need to keep your medicines and vaccines within the optimal range at a bargain price. It is not a very big refrigerator, but it has some fantastic features that you can enjoy, such as forced-air regulation to visual alarms, among other things.

Features of the Am-1 AM-LAB-2D-RSE-48 MedLab Laboratory Refrigerator

●      Adjustable shelves: though the refrigerator appears small, it comes with eight adjustable shelves that you can move around and keep however you deem fit. Also, you can buy additional shelves from the manufacturer if you feel you need them. A perfect choice if in need of an undercounter refrigerator.

●      Digital temperature control: while temperature control is a must-have for laboratory refrigerators, it is unfortunate that most units do not have this feature. However, besides having this feature, the Am-1 AM-LAB-2D-RSE-48 has a digital display that shows the temperature. With this feature, your temperature monitoring will be seamless, and the risk of temperature excursions will be lower.

●      Forced-Air cooling: there are generally two types of cooling systems – central air and forced air systems. Forced air systems are more energy-efficient because they use natural gas, thus making them affordable and environment-friendly. Additionally, they attain target temperatures faster than other cooling or heating systems.

●      Durable: its solid doors have a default lock made from top-quality materials. With this feature, you do not have to worry about your staff leaving the refrigerator slightly open, exposing your vaccines and medicines to elevated temperatures. Additionally, the refrigerator comes with a one-year warranty on parts and labor and a four-year warranty on the compressor parts.

●      Automatic cycle defrost system: with this feature, you can prevent frost buildup in your unit, thus reducing the risk of temperatures falling below the recommended value of 2oC.

●      High and low-temperature alarms with audible and visual indicators: the unit will alert you if, for some reason, the temperature moves beyond the recommended range of 2oC – 8oC.

Specifications

●      Forced air system

●      r-134a refrigerant, 115V 60Hz electrical

●      Double-sided doors

●      Eight adjustable shelves

Am-1 MedLab Premium Glass Door Refrigerator

The Am-1 MedLab Premium Glass Door Refrigerator is a pretty expensive unit, but its benefits justify its price. It has glass swing double doors with an outside lock that will catch anyone's eye at first glance. With this feature, you can see what is going on inside your unit without opening the door. And while not available in stainless steel, its off-white color should make it fit in perfectly with your existing appliances.

It also has eight adjustable shelves, two-year parts and labor warranty, and a three-year compressor warranty.

Other features of the Am-1 MedLab Premium Glass Door Refrigerator

●      An extensive alarm module that covers all your temperature monitoring needs. Its temperature alarm sounds when the unit reaches a high or low temperature. It also has a sensor failure alarm and a power failure alarm for when power outages happen. With this extensive alarm system, you can rest assured that your vaccines and medicines are in a safe environment.

●      A cycle defrost design that keeps your vaccines and medicines within the recommended range.

●      R290 hydrocarbon refrigerant: the EPA recommends the natural, non-toxic, and ozone-depletion-free R290 refrigerant for medical, laboratory, and food service businesses and this unit has got it!

●      Digital display system and a forced-air refrigeration system

●      You can custom-build this unit to meet your facility’s requirements

●      The unit has a probe access port, and you can also input remote alarm contacts on it.

Specifications

1-10oC temp range

115V 60Hz electrical

R290 hydrocarbon refrigerant

49 cu ft. capacity

Item weight: 445 pounds

The Am-1 MedLab premium glass door refrigerator has more remarkable features and benefits than the Am-1 AM-LAB-2D-RSE-48 MedLab laboratory refrigerator. Of course, this should be expected, seeing as the former is more expensive than the latter.

Bonus: How to Protect Your Facility's Brand New Refrigerator

While medical refrigerators help medical facilities keep up with their cold storage needs, they still depend on an uninterrupted power supply. Unfortunately, an uninterrupted power supply is not guaranteed because power outages can happen for different reasons. Sometimes, the outages last for a short while, and occasionally, they are extended.

While the U.S Energy Information Administration estimates the average extended power outage to last from 30 minutes to six hours, power outages' actual extent and frequency vary depending on your location. The scary thing about extended power outages is that you may not get enough advance notice before they happen. For this reason, an SOP for dealing with power outages in your facility is non-negotiable.

With our battery backup units, you can face power outages for any length of time confidently. Additionally, we can custom-design our systems to meet your needs so that you don’t have to pay for the runtime you do not need. Our clients typically pay for either our 12-hour or 24-hour option. With either of these options, you have peace of mind when a power outage happens, day or night.

Please get in touch with us to schedule a consultation where we examine your power needs and recommend the best solution for you.

Battery Backup for Vaccine Refrigerators and Freezers.

Our powerful battery backup systems will instantly power multiple appliances during a power outage. These custom sized systems can provide power for up to 72 hours of runtime!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE